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FAYETTEVILLE BULLDOGS 2016 RECORD 12-1 COACH Billy Dawson RETURNING STARTERS 4 offense, 1 defense KEY PLAYERS QB Darius Bowers (Jr., 6-2, 190), WR Cody Gray (Sr., 6-0, 170), WR Jon Conley (Sr., 6-1, 170), OG Gunner Sebas - tian (Jr., 6-2, 280), DE Dotson Schaefer (Sr., 6-4, 240), DT Ke- ondre Conley (Jr., 6-3, 245), CB Cemari Dobbins (Sr., 5-11, 180), RB Dan Hinton (Sr., 5-10, 260), FS Will Litzinger (Sr., 6-2, 180). THE SKINNY Dawson is the third head coach in as many years for the two-time defend - ing 7A champions. He led Rus- sellville to last year's 6A state title and also won three state championships at Nashville. … Bowers provides a dual-threat at quarterback, giving the offense a different look than it had with Taylor Powell, who set the state's career record for passing touch - downs (113) and is a freshman at Missouri. … Conley is in his first season of football after two years off and has been a playmaker during fall camp. … Schaefer has verbally committed to sign with Navy and leads a young, but talented defense. … Key games will be back-to-back trips to Bentonville and Bentonville West to begin 7A-West play. Consecutive home games against Springdale Har- Ber and Springdale High late in the season also will be important. COACH SPEAK "It's a neat situation. I like this part of the state, obviously, and I like the opportunity to coach in this league against some great teams and great coaches, so I think there is a lot of things that draw you to the Fayetteville area … From the standpoint of developing players and all those things, I think it's the same everywhere. We're keyed in on development of some young guys and getting the program to be able to maintain where we are for a period of time," Dawson said. SCHEDULE Sept. 1... at Blue Springs, Mo. Oct 6 ...................Rogers High* Sept. 8.........................Bryant Oct. 13 ......at Rogers Heritage* Sept. 15 Dallas Bishop Dunne Oct. 20 ..... Springdale Har-Ber* Sept. 22 .. at Bentonville High* Oct. 27 .......... Springdale High* Sept. 29 ..at Bentonville West* Nov. 3 ................. at Van Buren* * — Denotes 7A-West Conference game Bentonville Glass Inc. SERVING NW ARKANSAS SINCE 1971 • RESIDENTIAL • AUTOMOTIVE • COMMERCIAL 507 SOUTH MAIN STREET, BENTONVILLE, ARKANSAS 479-273-5545 15 PrEP rALLY: Class 7A THuRSDAy, AuGuST 31, 2017 7 A - W E S T C O N F E r E N C E C A P S U L E S D. Bowers J. Conley J. De La Rosa Z. Gall B. Dawson D. Hinton T. Kitterman D. Qualls SPrINGDALE HAr-BEr WILDCATS 2016 RECORD 8-3 COACH Chris Wood RETURNING STARTERS 3 offense, 5 defense KEY PLAYERS QB Grant Allen (Jr., 6-1, 180), RB Logan Collins (Sr., 5-11, 190), RB Payton Copher (Sr., 6-1, 190), WR Nick Parchman (Sr., 6-0, 200), DL Alejandro Ramirez (Sr., 6-2, 290), DB Blaze Brothers (Sr., 5-8, 160), DB Tevin Eckwood (Sr., 6-1, 170). THE SKINNY The Wildcats' quarterfinal loss at home to Bryant came as a surprise to many across the state last November, but once again, Har-Ber is expected to finish toward the top of the 7A-West. … Har-Ber won its second straight conference title in 2016, and the Wildcats' senior class has its sights set on a third league crown. … Ju - nior Grant Allen (466 yards, 5 TD) takes over at QB and will be joined by senior RBs Payton Copher, an Air Force commit, and Logan Collins (610 yards, 5 TD) to create a more diverse offensive look. … Har-Ber must also fill the void left by WR Trey Smith, who finished with 771 yards and 11 touchdowns through the air. … Wood's defense (14 ppg in 2016) should be stout once again as senior DL Alejandro Ramirez stars up front. … Three All-State performers (Blaze Brothers, Brock Pounders, Tevin Eckwood) return to the secondary as well to round out arguably the state's top unit. … All-State linebacker and 2016 NWADG Defensive Player of the year Oliver Nasilai moved to Class 3A Jessiev - ille during the summer. COACH SPEAK "The kids have got a purpose to this year, and they've got a chip on their shoulder. They want to go out and leave a stamp no other senior class has done and they want to go to Little Rock. … For our guys to have a chance to three-peat in the West, that's huge. But we know that's the back-end of the deal. If you don't take care of today all of that stuff is irrelevant," Wood said. SCHEDULE Sept. 1 .............at FS Southside Oct. 6 .................... at Bentonville* Sept. 8 .............. at Jeff City, Mo. Oct. 13 ............. Bentonville West* Sept. 15 ................. Jenks, Okla. Oct. 20 .................. at Fayetteville* Sept. 22 ........................Rogers* Oct. 27 ....................... Van Buren* Sept. 29 ..............at Springdale* Nov. 3 ........... at Rogers Heritage* * — Denotes 7A-West Conference game A. Jones C. McWhorter G. Allen B. Brothers M. Loyd D. Schureman L. Collins P. Copher rOGErS HErITAGE WAr EAGLES 2016 RECORD 1-9 COACH Tony Travis RETURNING STARTERS 4 offense, 3 defense KEY PLAYERS QB Trey Kitterman (Sr., 6-3, 225), RB Dylan Qualls (Sr., 6-0 200), WR Jay De La Rosa (Sr., 5-9, 160), QB/ TE Zach Brown (Jr., 6-1 184), DL/FB DeAndre Mendez (Sr., 5-9 236), WR Zach Gall (Sr., 6-0 200), OL Jacob Lanham (Sr., 5-8, 265). THE SKINNY The War Eagles return several talented players at the skill positions led by quarterback Trey Kitterman and running back Dylan Qualls, who rushed for almost 1,000 yards. Kitterman threw for more than 1,100 yards and rushed for 561 as a true du - al-threat. … Receivers Jay De La Rosa and Zach Gall should also form a nice 1-2 punch. However, all four of those players will likely do some double duty on defense as well. … Coach Tony Travis said the key will be striking the right balance, especially early in the game so they will still be strong in the fourth quarter. … Senior center Ja - cob Lanham anchors the offensive line. End Jheovany Hernandez (6-0 205) is one of the few holdovers on defense. … Nic Lastovica (6-0 260), DeAndrea Mendez and Zion Adair (6-4 342) also saw some action on the line. … Kitterman and Qualls will both see some action at linebacker, while Travis is excited about sophomore defen - sive back Isaiah Tibbs (6-0 176) and senior Liam Alderson (6-0 174) , a speedster from the track team that decided to come out in the spring. … Gall and De La Rosa could provide depth in the secondary, too. COACH SPEAK "We've still got some question marks at some po- sitions, but guys we have with returning experience are showing some good leadership traits for us. Kitterman, Gall, De La Rosa, Qualls, Ty Graser, Jacob Lanham at center. I think that group is developing in- to the leaders of the team. We're trying to eliminate the selfishness and the character issues that can bring a program down. I feel like we can put guys in positions on both sides of the ball and be com- petitive. Now the question is with everybody else in our conference not doing that, how are we gonna factor in as the game goes," Travis said. SCHEDULE Sept. 1 ..... at Little Rock Central Oct. 6 ......................... Van Buren* Sept. 8 .....................Russellville Oct. 13 ...................... Fayetteville* Sept. 15 at Fort Smith Southside Oct. 20 .........at Bentonville West* Sept. 22 ......... Springdale High* Oct. 27 .................. at Bentonville* Sept. 29 ........... at Rogers High* Nov. 3 ...........Springdale Har-Ber* * — Denotes 7A-West Conference game rOGErS HIGH MOUNTIES 2016 RECORD 6-5 COACH Mike Loyd RETURNING STARTERS 3 offense, 3 defense KEY PLAyERS QB Hunter Loyd (So., 6-4 195), RB Colin McWhorter (Sr., 5-11 163), WR Hunter Hawkins (Sr., 5-11, 178), OL Dusty Schure - man (Sr., 6-3 260), DE/FB A-ron Jones (Sr., 6-1, 235), DB/QB Andrew McGlynn (Sr., 6-2, 185), OL RJ Long (So., 6-2 275). THE SKINNY The Mounties will try to mix a few key returners with a group of talented sophomores that should see significant playing time. … Seniors Hunter Hawkins (51 receptions 529 yards 2 TDs) and Colin McWhorter (650 yards combined receiving/rushing w/10 TDs) will play key roles with sophomore Hunter Loyd at quarterback. Loyd brings a combination of speed and a strong arm. … Dusty Schureman, the lone returner on the offensive line, will move to center, while as many as three sophomores could see action there led by RJ Long (6-1 281). … In addition to the shifty and quick McWhorter, coach Mike Loyd said the 235-pound A-Ron Jones, a starter at defensive end, has ran well in the preseason. … The 6-foot-5 senior Garrett Dake, who came out for football for the first time in the spring, can team with 6-4 senior Andrew McGlynn at receiver to offer mismatches in size. … Defensively, Jones returns at end, while junior Casey Allred and senior Tony Casey (6-3 195), a newcomer from basketball have shown well on the line. … Sophomore Quade Mosier (6-2 195) is looking strong at linebacker, while junior Brandon Husted (5-8 175) and sophomore Nathan Hahn could see time, too. … Junior Brandon Workman, McGlynn, McWhorter and twins Shane and Jacob Taylor and senior John Horn all figure in the mix in the secondary. COACH SPEAK "We're a lot better athletically. Now, it's going to take some time for some of these younger guys. I don't know if it equates to more wins, but we're better defensively than we were a year ago. These kids are fun to coach. They have a great attitude.I think we'll get better as the season goes on. Next few years, we're going to compete with anybody out there. I'm not scared to say that. We'll see. We had a couple step up last year that weren't afraid to lead. We've got to find a few leaders. Colin McWhorter is our leader right now. He's turned into probably as good a football player as we have," Loyd said SCHEDULE Sept. 1 ..........at Siloam Springs Oct. 6 .................... at Fayetteville* Sept. 8 ........... Claremore, Okla. Oct. 13 ................... at Van Buren* Sept. 15 .....St. Louis Normandy Oct. 20 ...................... Bentonville* Sept. 22 at Springdale Har-Ber* Oct. 27 ............. Bentonville West* Sept. 29 .........Rogers Heritage* Nov. 3 ............at Springdale High* * — Denotes 7A-West Conference game A. Ramirez D. Schaefer